No more beetle-juice frapps.

Last January, Starbucks decided to move away from artificial ingredients. So to give its strawberry Frappuccinos and some of its other foods and beverages their pinkish-red hue, it turned to beetles--as in insects. That decision infuriated vegans, who choose not to eat animal products, and inspired an online petition urging Starbucks to switch to a natural but non-animal coloring, like red beets or purple sweet potatoes. As weird as it may sound, cochineal extract--a food dye made from the dried bodies of the cochineal beetle, which is indigenous to Mexico and South America--has the federal Food and Drug Administration's stamp of approval. In fact, it's widely used in yogurts, fruit-flavored drinks, candies, and some varieties of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. Following the public outcry--6,500 people signed the anti-beetle petition-Starbucks announced in April that the bugs will be exterminated from the menu by June and replaced with a tomato-based extract called lycopene.

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